The Official Poker Rules

official poker

Poker is a game of skill, where players try to minimize their losses with poor hands and maximize their winnings with good ones. It can be played socially for pennies or matchsticks, or professionally for thousands of dollars in a casino.

Poker has rules governing how the cards are dealt, betting rounds and showdowns. These are managed by the professional Tournament Directors Association (TDA), which is made up of managers of large live- and online poker rooms, circuits or independent tournaments.

The cards are dealt by one player, who is called the dealer. This person is responsible for distributing the cards and deciding who wins the pot.

A player who is not the dealer must first put an initial contribution into the pot, called an ante. This is done to make sure that there is money in the pot before the cards are dealt, and it is also a good way to ensure that no one else makes a bet before a player has an opportunity to do so.

In some variations of the game, it is necessary to show all of the cards to each player before they can make a decision. This is known as “mucking” and it can be annoying to a player who has a good hand, especially if it means that the dealer will kill their hand.

Despite the fact that mucking is bad gamesmanship, it is not illegal, and it is a matter of personal choice. In some cases, mucking may be a good thing, such as when it helps a player who has a good hand get to showdown quicker, so they can call it. It can be a bad thing, however, when it is deliberately done to sabotage the other players.